Before you dive head first off the deep end of a shallow pool or throw your computer out the window, remind yourself that the Celtics (from whose front office the Phoenix Suns pilfered draft help) have not overdrafted and kept any significant players in the past decade.

Granted, they have been drafting recently in the bottom of the first round. This allowed them to be opportunistic in their draft selections, waiting for players to drop. But at least they didn't overdraft.

On Thursday, the Phoenix Suns will be on the clock at the #5 position with four players off the board. Which four players is a complete mystery.

"There's no player or subset of players, even at five, that I can put aside and say, ‘OK, this guy or these guys definitely won't be there. I don't need to worry about them,' " Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said yesterday after another draft workout. "I feel like, even at five, we need to be prepared for every scenario, like every guy on the board could be there."

The most common, logical rumors have the Cavaliers taking a big man (Nerlens Noel or Alex Len), the Orlando Magic taking a shooting guard (Victor Oladipo or Ben McLemore), the Washington Wizards taking a small forward (Otto Porter has refused to even visit anyone below the Wizards pick) and the Charlotte Bobcats taking a big man (whichever of Noel or Len is available, or PF Anthony Bennett).

But that doesn't mean it will happen that way. With trades and smokescreens, the NBA Draft has always been a crapshoot and this year is crappier than most.

According to ESPN's Draft Tiers, not one player in this draft is a shoe-in to make an All-Star team. Some could make it someday, but none are projected as sure-fire All-Stars.

At the third tier, projected long-term NBA starters, there are "the six" mentioned above. By process of elimination, the Suns will be able to choose from among two of those six.

None of those top six are point guards. So why even bother worrying about whether the Suns would take a point guard at #5 overall?

Because Ryan McDonough has hinted all month that the pool of best players at #5 is wider than six. At the start of the month, he said he was looking at 10-12 players for that 5th spot. The other day, he had narrowed it down to "6, or 8, or 10".

The Suns held a point-guard heavy workout earlier this month in which Trey Burke worked out alone, while Michael Carter-Williams, Shane Larkin and C.J. McCollum dogged it out in the group workout. All but Larkin are projected to be drafted in the lottery, with a high chance that Burke (Pelicans), MCW (Kings) and McCollum (Pistons) are even gone by the 8th selection.

Remember, McDonough has said his draft pool as #5 is as big as "6, or 8, or 10".

Paul Coro of azcentral.com/sports, who only reports based on intel he's received rather than conjecture like I do, wrote yesterday/this morning:

If the Suns draft one of those players or perhaps a point guard surprise like Lehigh's C.J. McCollum or Michigan's Trey Burke, the choice likely will be more of a building block than a blockbuster in the rebuilding work.

...

The Suns will take a best-player-available approach into this year's draft, not even ruling out a point-guard selection with Goran Dragic under a long-term deal and Kendall Marshall and Diante Garrett coming off rookie seasons.

See how he just innocuously slipped that in there?

Last week, radio host John Gambodoro (plugged into the Suns front office at the highest levels) tweeted that the Suns love Michael Carter-Williams.

That's how teams prep their fans for a surprise. They sprinkle out an unattributed rumor in a good light through the beat reporters. Then later in the week it becomes something more substantial, but by that time the fans have had time to digest the idea. By draft day, it's even more clear.

Yet this rumor of maybe a point guard pick could all be just that: Rumor. Smokescreening.

Why would the Suns pass up two of the conventionally-listed "top six" just to duplicate the only position that is passably covered for the next three years?

Tomorrow I will be posting the draft history of both the Celtics and the Suns for the past decade. In that, you will see that the Celtics never overdrafted a player that high and kept him. Twice they drafted in the top ten (Randy Foye and Jeff Green) but traded them for better assets by the end of the night.

Don't expect the Suns to trade out of the 5th pick. It's probably more likely they trade up to #2 to guarantee their choice of McLemore/Oladipo than trade down.

The interest in Trey Burke, C.J. McCollum and Michael Carter-Williams may be real. But it's more likely that interest is in taking whoever drops to a later pick. Later than #5, through some kind of trade.

Stats:

And if his playing alone isn't reason enough to draft him, which it most certainly is, he could also fill in as the half-time entertainment on any given night if need be. The man can sing!

Potential Draft Range: 2-5

While it's anyone's guess who the Suns will actually end up drafting with the 5th pick this Thursday, I feel comfortable saying with relative certainty that if Oladipo is still available by the time the Suns' make their selection that he will be their guy.

Summary:

I've been on the Oladipo bandwagon all year long, and have made no secret of my love for his game. He was without a doubt my favorite college player this past season, and I am convinced he is one of the top three prospects in this draft. In my opinion, it would be a great value if the Suns end up drafting Oladipo with the 5th pick in the draft. The Suns can only hope that they are fortunate enough to do so. There have been rumors surfacing lately that the Orlando Magic like Oladipo better than McLemore now, and could select him as high as the 2nd pick. In order for Phoenix to draft Oladipo, they need either Trey Burke or Alex Len to crack the top 4. If either of these scenarios happen, the Suns' chances of drafting Oladipo increases significantly.

30th Pick: Ricardo Ledo (SG)

Measurables:

Height: 6' 6"

Weight: 197

Wingspan: 6' 7.25"

BF%: 10.25

Verticle (Max): 33.5"

Stats:

N/A

Ledo was one of the top guard prospects in the nation (ranked as high as #6 overall by Rivals.com) and a McDonald's All-American coming out of high school last year, but was declared academically ineligible last season at Providence and didn't play a single game in college.

Videos:

Combine Interview (courtesy of Draft Express)

Draft Workout Preparation(courtesy of SLAM Magazine)

Potential Draft Range: 16-35

Summary:

Ledo is without question one of the biggest question marks in this year's draft. On one hand he could be the same player who was ranked ahead of top prospects like Anthony Bennett, Marcus Smart, and Glenn Robinson III just last year (according to Rivals.com); or he could be an unproven high school phenom who fails to make the transition to the NBA after missing out on the experience of playing in the NCAA.

Ricky Ledo is without question a very talented young prospect who was one of the best scorers out of the entire class of 2012. In addition to his ability to get to the hoop and score from nearly anywhere on the court, he has incredible handles, a knack for creating off the dribble, and the skills of a combo guard with the ability to create for teammates with very good court vision and passing.

So why isn't he a lottery pick?

Well, there are a couple major red flags.

In addition to missing his only NCAA season due to academic ineligibility, and the lack of game tape with which to evaluate him, there are some legit character concerns as well.

He has built the reputation of being a locker room cancer in the past; so much so that one anonymous coach of his was reportedly quoted as saying that Ledo was, " the single worst human being I'd ever been associated with on a basketball court” and a “program killer.”

However, other coaches of his have had much better things to say about Ledo, and by all accounts he has had very impressive interviews and workouts with the teams he has visited, including Phoenix.

Ledo has eased many of the on-court concerns with his showing at the combine as well as with teams workouts. His biggest obstacle will be overcoming those character concerns. Still, most analysts claim that Ledo's stock is rising fast, so once again, Phoenix will likely need a little luck if they plan on drafting him.

So is Ledo really worth the risk? Absolutely. If Ledo is still available at #30 when the Suns pick, they shouldn't hesitate to make him their selection. He has top prospect potential and ability, and in my opinion, would be an absolute steal at the end of the first round.

Now Ford is lauding the opportunity to be the first in the world to see the next Phoenix Sun walking up to David Stern for a handshake sometime about 4:55pm on Thursday, June 27. He dreams of watching that draft pick don a Suns cap, flash those pearly whites and point to the sky over his great fortune.

Ford anticipates standing as close to the dais as possible, hoping to lock eyes with the kid and maybe even share the knuck-bump as he heads off to his first NBA interview as a Sun.

Today was upper classmen day. All but Reggie Bullock was a senior in college last year, and Bullock just finished his junior year. None of them were younger than 22, which some people consider old for an NBA draftee.

The headliner of this workout was Reggie Bullock and lucky for the media on a Saturday he didn't demand a solo workout.

"Top to bottom, this might be the deepest group we had," Ryan McDonough said after the workout. "No weak links."

Reggie Bullock

If the Suns want a 3-and-D guy at 30, Reggie Bullock might be the guy. The 22-year old junior is a swingman who's biggest attribute is shooting. He is the 11th-best 3-point shooter in UNC history at .387, making 188 of them (good for eighth in school history).

"I think the guys who can defend and shoot with size are becoming more and more valuable in the NBA now," McDonough said. Reggie fits that mold as a high percentage three-point shooter. He can also defend some twos and threes.

McDonough got good intel on the UNC guys from Kendall Marshall. Bullock and Marshall were roommates even.

Local guys

Carrick Felix made a name for himself last year at ASU by playing scrappy D and improving his shooting stroke. He is a high-energy player loved by coaches thanks to his good effort and high IQ. At the workout, Felix ran the most lines in the end-of-workout drill of anyone this month.

Felix just might be a second-rounder this year, much like Solomon Hill of UofA. Hill played all four years at UofA just like Felix did for ASU, usually a bad sign for NBA potential. But both guys may have gotten themselves into the second round consideration. He makes his money on 3-pointers from the SF position.

The list

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/Country Year

Reggie Bullock F 6-7 200 03/16/1991 North Carolina Junior

Carrick Felix F 6-6 203 08/17/1990 Arizona State Senior

Elias Harris F 6-8 238 07/06/1989 Gonzaga Senior

Solomon Hill F 6-7 226 03/18/1991 Arizona Senior

James Southerland F 6-8 221 04/28/1990 Syracuse Senior

Brandon Triche G 6-4 215 02/01/1991 Syracuse Senior

Notes

None of the players has changed their stock significantly since the end of the college season. "These workouts help, as a supplement, but I go more on film from the season."

Regarding mock drafts: "The guys that do them have a tough job. If the guys at the top of the draft don't know who they're picking, how can the later teams? There's no subset of players, even at 5, that you can say 'that guy won't be there'."

Planning for #5 being difficult: "The teams in the top 4 won't definitively decide what they're doing until they are on the clock."

Regarding injuries in the top 5-10: "We have the medical on all the guys, and if we had some questions we did some additional work. There are obviously guy who have had injuries and may be considered higher risk than others, so we have our medical team on it. Dr. Carter and Aaron Nelson are very thorough."

"Not every team will see the same medical records the same way."

"It is unique this year that three of the top 6, 8, 10, however you rank them, have been injured. But at least they played this year."